Dog barking at people - not sure if we need help?!

tk123

Sorry guys - there's a bit of background to my question first!

I was walking my dog earlier and he barked at somebody - he sniffed the guy's ball flipper/bag as they passed and gave 2 barks at him. They weren't stranger danger type barks just normal barks like if he was speaking for a treat?! The guy gave out saying he should be on a lead etc etc (it was off lead time with dogs everywhere). **He was at my side begging for a treat and I think would have barked whether he was on lead or not so on/off lead debate pls!**

This is the second time he's done this to this guy in the last few weeks - the guy passed by, my guy sniffed as he passed and then barked. We've passed the guy and his dog loads of times before and never had a problem. That said it would have been at more of a distance before and not as close - the guy tends to keep his distance - he told me years ago that the dog was kicked by teenagers during a burglary and is afriad of them and anyone the same height or with a black jacket or short hair - I'm a 5 foot girl with short hair and have a black jacket most of the year so I'm assuming the dog is afriad of me. Also she doesn't interact with the other dogs and looks very nervous so they keep their distance from her.

When I apologised today and said I didn't know why he was barking at him all of a sudden and maybe he was picking up something from his dog he got very very annoyed(!). Now before anyone asks I did apologise - I didn't just try to make light of it / blame the other poor dog!!! Another owner came up to me afterwards and told me not to worry as the guy 'isn't all there' and everyone has had run-ins with him...We've never seemed to have a problem before but looking back say in the last year when we've been in the park you can read the guy's body language from a mile away - 'back off!!' I'm guessing he doesn't remember talking to us a few times because he was friendly before but doesn't nod or say hello (this was before the barking) anymore.

Anyhoos regarless of his alleged mental state I don't want my guy barking at people!! I honestly don't know if I have a problem here that we might need help on so would really appreciate some advise.

I can think of a few other times he's barked at people (both on and off lead):
- one was a guy who came into the park barefoot doing crazy martial arts kicks and punches as he walked along making a kind of hissing noise with each move - all the dogs were barking at him
- he barked at a woman reading who was sitting where the dogs usually mooch and sniff - again he wasn't the only dog who barked at this person this time
- he barks at a woman who walks her dog in the park and would chat to us - no idea why and he won't take treats off her which is unheard of for him. She thinks it's hilarouous and says he smells her cats but I'm mortified when he does it!!!
- he's barked at men on the beach say 3 times over the last 3 years - every time we would have been on our own out at the water when the tide was out or in the dunes and they would have come around a corner or jogging past so I guess in his eyes they just appeared out or nowhere - I'm mentioning them being unexpected to him because if an object like a skip appeared outside of our house now he'd bark at it...!

DBB

Hmm, it does seem to be related to things that are outside of the norm, and/or things that appear which he wasn't expecting.
What does he do before he barks? Does he look startled or look back at you, all unsure of himself?
I'm wondering if you can go looking for unusual situations which you feel might set him off, and start working on his focus on you specifically in these situations? His obedience is great, which of course will stand to you, and I have a feeling you've had to use focus techniques in other situations before, with traffic, is it?
You'd start off at a distance, but gradually move in the distance. If he tends to have a close look first, or does something that tips you off that a barking session is coming, you can start to zone in on that behaviour and get him focusing more on you at the moment these behaviours begin, so that you eventually get him saying "There's an odd thing! Eek! Better go back to mam", rather than "There's an odd thing! Eek! Wuff wuff wuff"!
In other words, associate the odd/novel situation with him carrying out a task, rather than going off on an emotional tirade.
How does that sound? Have you used the Thundershirt on him? Any difference with it?

tk123

For this guy today he sniffed at him/the things he was carrying as he passed and then barked and I'm pretty sure he did the same thing last time...Last time the guy cut across the grass past a group of us blanking us and we all exchanged puzzled looks and today we spotted the guy from a mile away looking at us then coming past us guns blazing - because we were coming to join the other dog that had invaded the patch he was on... So I don't know if it he was maybe getting a cue from all of us so possibly our fault! He's in the park most days so I can practice with him on lead if the guy is nearby.

The other times he's been playing or running around at the beach and somebody has just 'arrived' the last time at the beach the man had a plastic bag (like the guy today) which he sniffed at and then barked but then ran around him barking and play bowing - the man thought it was funny because his own dog was old and didn't play anymore but I was mortified!! A leave it command stops him last time but i didn't think of at first. It's only happened a handful of times months and month apart but enough to make me wonder what he thinks in happening and why.

We do have a thundershirt - I've used it to get him in noisy traffic, for his TTouch groundwork and and at the vets - I had the thing over a year before it dawned on me to try it in the vets and the difference is amazing - he just sits beside me or lies down on the floor and asks for treats instead of crying, panting, ignoring the treats and making a beeline for the door. Last time we were at the vets he was lying on the floor giving me his paw and the two yorkies beside us were scraping at the glass door trying to get out - a great advertisement for the vets for anyone passing lol!

carav10

Be interesting to know what these guys are carrying in their bags... some things can give off scents that will drive a dog nuts as it's different from the norm.

My 10mth old pup is very well socialised & loves all humans, but today she barked at a man limping with a walking stick & wearing a hat. Very unusual behaviour for her but has me thinking of a training session to set up :-)

It can be little things that deviate from the norm including smells. Personally I wouldn't worry too much unless it's a big problem. Sometimes a dog senses things I'd actually like to be alerted to....

Also, I'm not sure from your post if your dog is barking at the man or his dog?? Smells can be the same for some dogs. They just don't like some dogs' secretions!

tk123

carav10 wrote: »

Be interesting to know what these guys are carrying in their bags... some things can give off scents that will drive a dog nuts as it's different from the norm.

My 10mth old pup is very well socialised & loves all humans, but today she barked at a man limping with a walking stick & wearing a hat. Very unusual behaviour for her but has me thinking of a training session to set up :-)

It can be little things that deviate from the norm including smells. Personally I wouldn't worry too much unless it's a big problem. Sometimes a dog senses things I'd actually like to be alerted to....

Also, I'm not sure from your post if your dog is barking at the man or his dog?? Smells can be the same for some dogs. They just don't like some dogs' secretions!

He was barking at the man I think - he doesn't really bark at dogs except if they rob a stick on him and he might run after them. Funny you should mention the walking stick - he barked at a zimmerframe (not the man using it - the actual frame) last month and I'd forgotten all about it! We were in the park a while back and a man with one leg was on crutches walking a small dog. Bailey said hello to the dog and the man gave him a pet..when the man passed he went up behind him and sniffed where the leg should have been puzzled! The man didn't see him thank god!

carav10

tk123 wrote: »

Bailey said hello to the dog and the man gave him a pet..when the man passed he went up behind him and sniffed where the leg should have been puzzled! The man didn't see him thank god!

LOL dogs to have the ability to embarass their owners, political correctness etc doesn't apply to our four legged friends :-)

belongtojazz

I believe dogs can also pick up on vibes from people they believe aren't "normal"

My springer has only ever barked aggressively at 1 person for no apparent reason.... that person took my JRT and kept her for 8 hours a few months later and I was told by quite a few of his neighbours that he was not 100%.

Somehow my Springer got some sense that this guy was a threat even though he was perfectly friendly to us.

tk123

Right he barked at a woman this morning - stranger danger type barking - she was walking her dog with a cap on and head down. Which my friends think might have been the cause. We've spoken to the woman before and he's even played with the dog but this would have been last year...The poor woman's husband died a few months ago - she doesn't stop and chat etc anymore - just cap pulled down, head down and keeps walking. He's barked at her once before - at the time I thought it was her dog he was barking at - he was in a funny mood that day after being stung by wasps and was barking at a few dogs in the park that day! I had to give him his leave it command a good few times before he stopped and he tried to follow her for a few steps barking at her and running around her. MORTIFIED and stressed out - I don't want to look like I'm letting my dog run amok bothering people!! His bark is so deep from the time he was a puppy so would frighten someone imo